SLED vs OpenSUSE?

[armageddon08]

What is the basic difference between the two? I mean, does SLED have any extra softwares/features than those in OpenSUSE?
Which one would you prefer?

[Sorivenul]

The short answer: OpenSuSE

The slightly longer answer:
SLED, in my opinion, is for those who need "official"/Commercial support and an enterprise-class operating system. You've got fees involved with SLED as well, and I won't even go into the whole MS/Novell deal. As far as I'm concerned, CentOS is a fine enterprise alternative, as it is stable and free.OpenSuSE, while "sponsored" by Novell, is the better of the two (again, my opinion). If one is looking for more support "out-of-the-box", SLED may be the way to go if you're willing to sacrifice your money and/or your soul. The OpenSuSE forums aren't nearly as active or helpful as the Ubuntu forums, however there are good numbers of OpenSuSE users around here that will help.

Just my two cents.

[mrsteveman1]

The short answer: OpenSuSE

The slightly longer answer:
SLED, in my opinion, is for those who need "official"/Commercial support and an enterprise-class operating system. You've got fees involved with SLED as well, and I won't even go into the whole MS/Novell deal. As far as I'm concerned, CentOS is a fine enterprise alternative, as it is stable and free.OpenSuSE, while "sponsored" by Novell, is the better of the two (again, my opinion). If one is looking for more support "out-of-the-box", SLED may be the way to go if you're willing to sacrifice your money and/or your soul. The OpenSuSE forums aren't nearly as active or helpful as the Ubuntu forums, however there are good numbers of OpenSuSE users around here that will help.

Just my two cents.

I'm not fond of CentOS, having spent the last...5 months? administering a fairly large website for someone on centos in a datacenter.

I've been happy with opensuse as a desktop though, Novell is doing pretty well in that area, servers too. I tend to go back and forth between opensuse and ubuntu but stick around these forums, because as the other guy said, they are more active.

[armageddon08]

Thanks for the input but what I was asking was: if there are any extra features in SLED which OpenSuSE does not possess.

[kevin11951]

Thanks for the input but what I was asking was: if there are any extra features in SLED which OpenSuSE does not possess.

im pretty sure the only difference is one is free/no support, and the other cost alot and comes with support.

[karellen]

in theory, SLED should be more stable. OpenSuse is more bleeding edge (like Fedora compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux)

[K.Mandla]

Moved to OpenSuse discussion forum.

[Sorivenul]

A few more details:
openSuSE has 2 years of supported security updates on releases, I believe, whereas SLED has 7.

The use of SLED is reserved for registered users who pay the fees associated with their specific product, of which there are many. See http://www.novell.com/linux/ for details.

Also one has to address the issues of older, and usually more stable software in SLED, and more "bleeding edge" and possibly more initial hardware support in openSuSE. To compare brief lists of packages in SLED 10 (SP2) and openSuSE 11 (or even Factory) check the respective DistroWatch listings:
SLED (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=novell)
openSuSE (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=suse)

I don't see any reason that a standard desktop user would not be satisfied with the openSuSE offering over SLED. The software is newer and more likely to support newer hardware, especially in mobile computers; it's not like Novell has access to "hidden" features in the kernel that the folks at openSuSE or those who compile their own kernel don't.

[mrsteveman1]

I know there are some management panels and stuff in SLES (their server) that aren't in opensuse, but SLED should be virtually identical to opensuse.

[RS3York]

SLED/SLES:
+ Higher degree of testing before release
+ Extra management tools availble (OSS & Propriety)
+ Support & Certification for some Enterprise packages (like SAP)
+ Longer support period (but you've got to pay for it)
+ People study to get certified on the platform
+ Available pre-installed on brand-name computers (e.g. Lenovo SMB machines)
- Slower update cycle
- less software available overall
- Marketing (& cost) distinction between Desktop & Server

openSUSE
+ More software available
+ Newer software included
+ One distro for all uses (Desktop & Server)
+ Quicker release cycle (core libraries & kernel update more often)
- No certification for certain enterprise-level apps
- No official technical support available (unless you buy a retail box and even that is just 90 days "install" support)

In the end, if you...
Are a hobbyist: openSUSE
Are on a budget: openSUSE
Just need a solid OS for your PC: openSUSE
Want someone to call for support: SLED/SLED
Run mission-critical servers: SLES
Manage many computers in a mixed OS environment: SLED/SLES


The only real in-OS feature advantage SLES/SLED has are the extra management tools available. SLED also comes with "banshee-helix" by default (Banshee music player with the Helix playback engline), but this feature is easily negated since getting codecs for openSUSE is so easy. The rest of SLED's advantage has to do with its "ecosystem" since it is handled as an enterprise-class product.

Personally I use openSUSE.